In The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, Ken Blanchard teams up with William Oncken, one of the leading time management experts, to help managers learn to delegate properly. Oncken’s unique concept of the monkey makes understanding delegation humorous and clear. A monkey is any task or decision that must be made. The person who has the monkey on his back is the one responsible for taking the next step in solving the problem. The key is to put the monkeys on the backs of the appropriate subordinates and not allowing subordinates to put monkeys on your back.
Don’t take responsibility for other people’s work. When you do, not only do you end up with too much work, but you also demotivate your subordinates by taking away their role in the work. There are two negative ways to respond to someone with a problem: First, be a persecutor and attack the person with the problem for having the problem. Second, be a rescuer and solve the problem for the other person. Both have disastrous consequences. When you rescue someone you are actually implying that he is not smart enough, creative enough, able to solve his own problem, so you end up disempowering him and diminishing his ability to perform.
When someone is learning, you need to spend a lot of time with him. But once he has learned his job, you need to give him room to operate. However, you must communicate clearly why you are spending a lot of time with him or why you are leaving him alone, so there will be no misunderstanding.
Give people the freedom to make mistakes. The problem is not making mistakes but not learning from your mistakes.
“Trying is just a noisy way of not doing anything.”
It is not your commitment that makes things happen but your action on your commitment carried out consistently over time that will make things happen. Stop looking for a magic formula or system; work the one that you already have and it will work for you.
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2007
Putting the One Minute Manager to Work
In Putting the One Minute Manager to Work, Ken Blanchard teams up with Robert Lorber, a productivity expert, to give some simple, yet powerful, principles to apply the three steps in The One Minute Manager.
The ABCs of Management:
Activator: a manager is a person who activates behavior in others. (One Minute Goals are an activator.)
Behavior: the behavior or performance the manager elicits from the workers.
Consequence: what the manager does after the behavior or performance.
The ACHIEVE Model:
Ability: does the person have the skills and abilities required to do what you are asking him to do? If not, you must train them before you give them goals.
Clarity: make sure expectations are clear and know exactly what is expected of them.
Help: am I giving the support, training and resources they need to do an excellent job?
Incentive: what’s in it for the person to reach the goal and perform at the required standard?
Environment: am I providing the environment they need to perform at peak levels?
Validity: do you know why you are asking them to do what you are asking them to do?
Evaluation: do they know how they are going to be evaluated?
These are things you must do ahead of time for your team to be successful.
Activators account for 15% of behavior while 85% is the result of follow up. Therefore, focus on the consequences of behavior by spending most of your time giving One Minute Praises and Reprimands
In order to improve performance you must pay the PRICE:
Pinpoint: what are the areas that need to be improved?
Record: you must be able to measure what you want to improve.
Involve: bring everyone connected with the process together to work on setting goals, establishing a monitoring system, defining strategies for coaching, training and resources, and agreeing on standards for evaluation and clarify the incentives that will motivate them to improve performance.
Coach: observe performance and manage the consequences.
Evaluate: summarize what has gone on through the whole process.
The problem is not that systems don’t work but that people don’t work the system. People fail to honor their commitments so the system isn’t given a chance to work. You need to be committed to your commitment. The biggest problem is that people try instead of doing. “Trying is just a noisy of way of doing nothing. “ Don’t keep running around looking for the next fad; follow up on the one you have.
The ABCs of Management:
Activator: a manager is a person who activates behavior in others. (One Minute Goals are an activator.)
Behavior: the behavior or performance the manager elicits from the workers.
Consequence: what the manager does after the behavior or performance.
The ACHIEVE Model:
Ability: does the person have the skills and abilities required to do what you are asking him to do? If not, you must train them before you give them goals.
Clarity: make sure expectations are clear and know exactly what is expected of them.
Help: am I giving the support, training and resources they need to do an excellent job?
Incentive: what’s in it for the person to reach the goal and perform at the required standard?
Environment: am I providing the environment they need to perform at peak levels?
Validity: do you know why you are asking them to do what you are asking them to do?
Evaluation: do they know how they are going to be evaluated?
These are things you must do ahead of time for your team to be successful.
Activators account for 15% of behavior while 85% is the result of follow up. Therefore, focus on the consequences of behavior by spending most of your time giving One Minute Praises and Reprimands
In order to improve performance you must pay the PRICE:
Pinpoint: what are the areas that need to be improved?
Record: you must be able to measure what you want to improve.
Involve: bring everyone connected with the process together to work on setting goals, establishing a monitoring system, defining strategies for coaching, training and resources, and agreeing on standards for evaluation and clarify the incentives that will motivate them to improve performance.
Coach: observe performance and manage the consequences.
Evaluate: summarize what has gone on through the whole process.
The problem is not that systems don’t work but that people don’t work the system. People fail to honor their commitments so the system isn’t given a chance to work. You need to be committed to your commitment. The biggest problem is that people try instead of doing. “Trying is just a noisy of way of doing nothing. “ Don’t keep running around looking for the next fad; follow up on the one you have.
One Minute Manager
In The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have written a simple, easy to understand and implement, management book that has influenced American management techniques for over two decades. They have three simple steps to becoming an effective manager: One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praises, and One Minute Reprimands.
One Minute Goal Setting: Make sure that both the manager and the employee know exactly what is expected and both agree on how it will be measured.
One Minute Praises: Catch someone doing something right. One minute praises need to be: immediate, specific, emotions need to be shared from the heart, and then an encouragement to keep on doing the desired behavior.
There are two different kind of strokes: strokes for being and strokes for doing. While we need to give both, we generally give more strokes for being. However, it is much more effective to give strokes for specific behaviors.
Winners are people who can come right in and do a job well without any training or supervision. They are effective, but they are rare and they are very expensive. In order to be an effective manager, you must learn how to take undeveloped people and turn them into winners. Everyone has the potential to become a winner, but many winners are disguised as losers. To be effective, you must be able to spot, recruit, train and equip potential winners.
When people are learning, you must constantly reinforce positive behavior and bring them slowly towards the goal. In the beginning you will have to praise half successes and partial victories until the learner is able to grasp complex processes. Never reprimand a learner because you will cause him to freeze and inhibit his ability to learn. Limit negative feedback and utilize a lot of positive feedback.
When learner s are reprimanded there are three common responses: First, they will try to avoid the punisher. Second, they might do nothing because they think that no matter what they do they will get hit. Third, they spend their time plotting to get even with the one who is attacking them.
Four steps to effective training: First, tell them exactly what they need to do. Second, show them how to do it. Third, delegate parts of the project to them. Fourth, observe them doing it and give positive feedback. Catch them doing something right and give them one minute praises.
If a learner doesn’t even get close to getting anything even approximately right, you do not praise them or reprimand them. In stead, you need to go back to step one and tell them as clearly as possible, and then show them, delegate and watch them again.
One Minute Reprimands: Responding effectively when someone knowingly does something wrong. One minute reprimands need to be: immediate, specific, emotions need to be shared from the heart, and then an encouragement to go back to performing the desired behavior. Reprimands must be done immediately; don’t store up mistakes and throw them all at the person at a later date because that will never accomplish anything positive. Never reprimand a learner but only someone who already knows how to do what he is supposed to do. You must be specific and focus on the behavior and not the person. You must also share your feelings without attacking the other person. Then tell him that he is better than that and can do much better.
While these principles are common sense, they are not common practice. Even though they are simple to understand they are not always easy to implement. Clearly articulating expectations at the beginning so that both sides know exactly what is expected will alleviate many of the common problems faced by managers and employees. I also think the idea of “catching someone doing something right” is powerful, yet I find it difficult to apply consistently. I find that when I am not clear about what I expect from the other person, or have failed to communicate it clearly, it is easy to fall into the negative trap of catching others doing things wrong.
I also was challenged to never reprimand a learner. It is difficult to remain positive when someone isn’t learning fast enough or is having difficulty learning a concept or skill. This book reminded me to be much more patient and intentional when dealing with learners. I also realized that learners need a lot more attention and support than I have usually given.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, even if they are not a manager. These principles work in family relationships as well as friendships and other non-business settings.
One Minute Goal Setting: Make sure that both the manager and the employee know exactly what is expected and both agree on how it will be measured.
One Minute Praises: Catch someone doing something right. One minute praises need to be: immediate, specific, emotions need to be shared from the heart, and then an encouragement to keep on doing the desired behavior.
There are two different kind of strokes: strokes for being and strokes for doing. While we need to give both, we generally give more strokes for being. However, it is much more effective to give strokes for specific behaviors.
Winners are people who can come right in and do a job well without any training or supervision. They are effective, but they are rare and they are very expensive. In order to be an effective manager, you must learn how to take undeveloped people and turn them into winners. Everyone has the potential to become a winner, but many winners are disguised as losers. To be effective, you must be able to spot, recruit, train and equip potential winners.
When people are learning, you must constantly reinforce positive behavior and bring them slowly towards the goal. In the beginning you will have to praise half successes and partial victories until the learner is able to grasp complex processes. Never reprimand a learner because you will cause him to freeze and inhibit his ability to learn. Limit negative feedback and utilize a lot of positive feedback.
When learner s are reprimanded there are three common responses: First, they will try to avoid the punisher. Second, they might do nothing because they think that no matter what they do they will get hit. Third, they spend their time plotting to get even with the one who is attacking them.
Four steps to effective training: First, tell them exactly what they need to do. Second, show them how to do it. Third, delegate parts of the project to them. Fourth, observe them doing it and give positive feedback. Catch them doing something right and give them one minute praises.
If a learner doesn’t even get close to getting anything even approximately right, you do not praise them or reprimand them. In stead, you need to go back to step one and tell them as clearly as possible, and then show them, delegate and watch them again.
One Minute Reprimands: Responding effectively when someone knowingly does something wrong. One minute reprimands need to be: immediate, specific, emotions need to be shared from the heart, and then an encouragement to go back to performing the desired behavior. Reprimands must be done immediately; don’t store up mistakes and throw them all at the person at a later date because that will never accomplish anything positive. Never reprimand a learner but only someone who already knows how to do what he is supposed to do. You must be specific and focus on the behavior and not the person. You must also share your feelings without attacking the other person. Then tell him that he is better than that and can do much better.
While these principles are common sense, they are not common practice. Even though they are simple to understand they are not always easy to implement. Clearly articulating expectations at the beginning so that both sides know exactly what is expected will alleviate many of the common problems faced by managers and employees. I also think the idea of “catching someone doing something right” is powerful, yet I find it difficult to apply consistently. I find that when I am not clear about what I expect from the other person, or have failed to communicate it clearly, it is easy to fall into the negative trap of catching others doing things wrong.
I also was challenged to never reprimand a learner. It is difficult to remain positive when someone isn’t learning fast enough or is having difficulty learning a concept or skill. This book reminded me to be much more patient and intentional when dealing with learners. I also realized that learners need a lot more attention and support than I have usually given.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, even if they are not a manager. These principles work in family relationships as well as friendships and other non-business settings.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Make today a masterpiece
Give a block of marble to the average person and after a few weeks you will get a block of marble back. Give a block of marble to a master sculptor, and in a few weeks you will get back a beautiful statue. The difference is in knowing what to do with the marble.
In the same way, give 24 hours to the average person and what you get back is a lot of useless things that have little or no eternal value. But give 24 hours to a wise man and you will get back something of infinite and eternal value. The difference is in knowing what to do with the time. Make Today a masterpiece; yesterday is gone and you cannot change it. Tomorrow doesn’t exist, so you cannot do anything it yet. You have only today, and what you do today will affect what happens to you tomorrow. So make today a masterpiece so tomorrow will be a beautiful treasure.
If you kill time, you are the one who gets hurt. If you waste time, you will never have a second chance to use it again. Don’t waste time; it is too valuable. Don’t just spend time; it is too powerful. Instead, invest time, and you will gain infinite and eternal value.
There are two basic things you must do in order to invest your time wisely so that you make today a masterpiece: Make good decisions and Practice good discipline. Decisions without discipline accomplishes nothing. Discipline without good decisions leads to monotony without reward. Learn to make each day a masterpiece by deciding to invest your time in things that truly matter and then discipline yourself to follow through. (More on this later.)
In the same way, give 24 hours to the average person and what you get back is a lot of useless things that have little or no eternal value. But give 24 hours to a wise man and you will get back something of infinite and eternal value. The difference is in knowing what to do with the time. Make Today a masterpiece; yesterday is gone and you cannot change it. Tomorrow doesn’t exist, so you cannot do anything it yet. You have only today, and what you do today will affect what happens to you tomorrow. So make today a masterpiece so tomorrow will be a beautiful treasure.
If you kill time, you are the one who gets hurt. If you waste time, you will never have a second chance to use it again. Don’t waste time; it is too valuable. Don’t just spend time; it is too powerful. Instead, invest time, and you will gain infinite and eternal value.
There are two basic things you must do in order to invest your time wisely so that you make today a masterpiece: Make good decisions and Practice good discipline. Decisions without discipline accomplishes nothing. Discipline without good decisions leads to monotony without reward. Learn to make each day a masterpiece by deciding to invest your time in things that truly matter and then discipline yourself to follow through. (More on this later.)
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